ethical question concerning a dell

[udonoogen]

so my boss orders a lot of stuff for our lab. well the other day a box came in his name from Dell. it's addressed to him and from the specs on the outside it's a pretty good laptop, he estimated a couple grand. i didn't look at the specs but he said it was 2ghz, 20gig, etc. anyhow, he didn't order a laptop. in fact, he called dell and the last 4 digits of the credit card used to purchase the laptop are not his or anyone he knows. he's been calling dell and trying to figure out who might have ordered it but it seems more and more like it was an error on the part of dell.

my friend told me theres some law that if you're shipped something and it doesn't get resolved in 30 days its legally yours. is that true? what do you do in a situation like this?

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Never heard of a 30 day rule, possibly a state specific rule.

 

[reitz]

my friend told me theres some law that if you're shipped something and it doesn't get resolved in 30 days its legally yours. is that true? what do you do in a situation like this?

I don't know about the "thirty day rule," but I was under the impression that if a company ships you an unsolicited product, it is yours to keep (legally).

 

[Walleye]

damn it dell, send me something good accidently!

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: reitz

my friend told me theres some law that if you're shipped something and it doesn't get resolved in 30 days its legally yours. is that true? what do you do in a situation like this?

I don't know about the "thirty day rule," but I was under the impression that if a company ships you an unsolicited product, it is yours to keep (legally).

If it is unsolicited(i.e. not a mistake) this is a law to prevent people from sending you merchandise and then billing you later. In Dell's case it was a honest mistake and they will find out. It isn't a matter of ethics, it is a matter of common sense. You didn't order it nor did you boss. Call Dell to have them send Airborne out and they will pick it up.

 

[freebee]

Didn't we have a thread about this last time?...also from Dell?.

Ethically you should send it back. However, in order for them to improve in their shipping logistics and the coordination, (and for you to help them as a company)...you should not return the product. On the corporate level, improvement generally occurs faster when loss is concerned.

 

[udonoogen]

yeah my friend said he remembered seeing a thread about this awhile back ... i looked for it but couldn't find it. must have been put in the archives.

my boss has been contacting dell and they haven't been very helpful in clearing up the matter. purchasing information is confidential and so they only let him know the last 4 digits of the CC that was used to purchase the computer. that does us no good because we dont have a name to match up with anyone that may have ordered it ... so we don't know if the sale was a complete mistake or not. btw we're in california.

 

[Cycad]

Ethically speaking you must keep this, it is for the greater good of man.

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: freebee
Didn't we have a thread about this last time?...also from Dell?.

Ethically you should send it back. However, in order for them to improve in their shipping logistics and the coordination, (and for you to help them as a company)...you should not return the product. On the corporate level, improvement generally occurs faster when loss is concerned.

lol, If I've ever heard a masterfully worded excuse to keep something that's not yours, this is it.

 

[Marshallj]

I'm sure someone signed for the box. They'll eventually figure out where the shipment ended up. You might as well voluntarily return it or you could end up getting punished.

 

[RBlount]

Dell is one of the worst companies when it comes to correcting mistakes.

I work for a reseller. We purchase a large number of laptops from Dell to resell to one of our customer. One time we received a wrong laptop. From the shipping labels it was obvious someone screwed up and put the wrong shipping label on the box. Here is how the conversation goes with our sales rep:

Us: We received a laptop that is not the right configuration
Dell: Are you sure?
Us: Yes, it is a completely different style.
Dell: What is the Service Code?
Us: <<Gives Service Code>>
Dell: I don't see that Service Code on your account. I didn't sell it to you.
Us: That is what I just said. How do we return the wrong laptop get the right one?
Dell: I don't know anything about that Service Code. I can't help you.


This went on for ten minutes.

Idiots.

 

[dethman]

screw 'em. keep it and use it until they ask for it back, if they're being so difficult about it. it's not worth it to waste your time and effort to correct their mistake.